Radionuclide migration experiments in the laboratory: Some radioanalytical aspects

Radionuclide transport studies in consolidated and unconsolidated geological media are being performed in the laboratory as part of the Canadian Nuclear Fuel Waste Management Program. These studies present an interesting challenge to radiochemists because many of the radionuclides are either not eluted or only partially eluted from fractures or from columns. Therefore, non-invasive radiometric analyses have been applied to determine the location of radionuclides along a flow path during a migration experiment, and invasive analyses have been developed to determine the transport behaviour of these radionuclides at the termination of a migration experiment. Linear gamma scanning has been used in migration experiments with95mTc and131I through columns of crushed fracture-infilling material to follow their movement through the columns. Two-dimensional gamma scanning has been used to determine the distribution of144Ce on fracture surfaces at the termination of migration experiments through natural fractures in granite. In addition, information on the interaction of radionuclides with specific minerals can often be obtained by separating minerals on the basis of density, or by a combination of density and magnetic properties, followed by radiometric assay of the separated fractions.